From Swaziland, With Love

January 2012 has been interesting to say the least. We have crowned our BCS champion, the Cats are ranked second in the nation, the GOP primary season has begun and the UK women's team just beat Tennessee! Not a bad month. Thanks to some friends passionate interests I have decided to jump on board the Saints bandwagon- how can you hate Drew Brees? All of this is of course great news, but to me it is certainly a blessing to have so many distractions this month. Yes indeed, January is a lonely month.

Rachel has been in Swaziland for about 11 days now. Wow, 11 days? It feels like 11 months. We are just about to the halfway point which is GREAT, but of course I am grateful of the opportunity she has to do good things in a part of the world that is certainly not the most desirable of places to be.
I have heard many heartbreaking stories of her trip abroad, many of which I can't repeat without getting emotional. Luckily I have heard many stories of great compassion in the midst of great horror. Good and bad are both alive and well in Swaziland.

I miss her a tremendous amount (if you ask my coworkers they will most certainly acknowledge this). At least we got engaged before her departure. That brings a certain level of peace to the whole assignment. It's still quite difficult though, especially in communicating. Skype is often unreliable which leads to me showing my temper and cursing like a sailor at my Mac. We get to talk every day, most of which is through email which has become my best friend this month. I am so very proud of the work she is doing over there and cannot wait for her to return.

Being me, I decided to make myself an expert on all things Swazi. What did I discover?
-They have the highest HIV infection rate of any country on the continent. 1 out of every 4 is infected.
-Swaziland is an ABSOLUTE monarchy, the last on the continent.
-The men like to have multiple wives and mistresses.

HIV and the multiple wives obviously are linked together. Rachel was telling me that its commonplace for a man to have many wives- a status symbol. They teach safe sex in the clinics, but safe sex only goes so far in a culture that has multiple partners. Monogamy might save lives. Who knows. She sent me a picture of condom distribution machine in the bathroom there. It basically said if you have unprotected sex you will kill someone. I guess they aren't getting the message. The king enacted a no sex ban a few years ago. He made all virgins wear an arm band when in public. Obviously it didn't go over well and the ban was lifted. The king did liberate some of these women from that ban and made wives out of some of them- he has 14.

Now for His Majesty King Mswati III....
The king is an absolute ruler who dissolved political parties, government and basically democracy. His people live on roughly 60 cents a day while he lives in total opulence. The king has over 7 palaces and a fleet of luxury cars. He has a jet so that he can fly around the world on the dime of his people, most of which barely make a dime a day.

The king owns a large stake in the media and industrial sectors which lines his pockets while his people starve. He even made it a CRIME to take photos of his houses, security forces, luxury cars, plane, etc because he is tired of negative stories getting out. God save the king indeed.

Of course Rachel is not there to study its politics or to fight the system. She is there to make a difference in the lives of the Swazi people. She has seen some terrible things, but I know the type of person she is. She treats every patient with respect and honor- more importantly compassion. Speaking from someone who has received that compassion, her patients are very lucky to have her there. I am so proud of her and I miss her very much.

I am also very happy that she is there with friends from home. I am thankful for their help when she needed it most. I am thankful for the locals who are assisting them. I appreciate their kindness and I greatly appreciate the respect that they show my fiancee. The culture isn't the most honorable, therefore I am glad that there are honorable men helping them. I am grateful for that.

Keep up the good work Rach! I love you so much!

Had to get that out there! Don't worry, we will be back to sports soon enough. Some things are just more important. The Swazis should be very blessed. Don't get too attached to her though, I expect her back here in 2 weeks!

Oh and by the way, did Louisville beat Providence?


Didn't think so!

A Michigan Man

"We have to go out and hire a Michigan Man at Michigan." You can replace the school with any school in America and use that line freely in regards to replacing coaches in college football. The mystique of hiring a coach who knows the school is one that seems to really only be prevalent in college football. It's a notion that does not make a lot of sense to me especially given the recent ludicrous uproar out of State College, PA. Despite the silliness of  it, fans and AD's alike bow to the idea of hiring a "Michigan Man".

A friend of mine made a good point to me yesterday- he said that most people who make up that rare breed of people destined to become football coaches already know the history of the BIG college football schools. Do they really need to be bred there to appreciate or comprehend that history? I never went to Michigan, Nebraska, Ohio State or Notre Dame but I recognize their unique status in the realm of college football. I never played defense at Nebraska but know enough about what the "Black Shirts" means to the players and fans.

Sure, "Michigan Men" have a leg up over most coaches if they are coming "home" to coach. They know the ground, they know the recruiting bases, they know the front office staff. Doesn't matter how long you played or coached at a school either- if you were there one year, you are a "Michigan Man." There has been great success by coaches coming "home" to coach. Look at Brady Hoke this year at Michigan. Steve Spurrier is the all time classic example. Success is great if you are a "Michigan Man".

Then again being a "Michigan Man" brings great pressure. Lloyd Carr was allowed to retire (forced out) when success at Michigan escaped him. Frank Solich at Nebraska was fired for going 9-3. You have to win every single game because you know that is expected of you. It's a ludicrous philosophy.

Do I think that new Penn State head coach Bill O'Brien will be successful at Penn State even though he isn't a "Michigan Man"? Who knows. Under the most normal of circumstances it is hard to tell. Given the recent troubles at Penn State it is hard to say if anyone can win there now. However, him not having any ties to the school has riled up an already insane fan base. I'm not going to go into that scandal, but come on... did you really think they were going to hire someone from that regime?

"Michigan Men" are the norm in college football- especially in the storied Big Ten. It's not really that way in the SEC. The SEC is the king of college football right now but only 3 of the 12 schools in the SEC have a "Michigan Man" as its head coach. UK and newly hired Ole Miss head coach Hugh Freeze have a "Michigan Man" as a head coach and are both at the bottom of the SEC pecking order. Auburn took a HUGE risk and hired Gene Chizik who coached there for 2 years. The fans hated that hire but Auburn wanted to hire someone with ties. It worked out for them, but it very well could not have.

For some reason college football is transfixed by the pageantry of hiring a "Michigan Man". College basketball doesn't really have that problem. Look at the top programs in hoops history- UK, KU, UNC, Duke. Of those only UNC has a "Michigan Man" in Roy Williams. Kentucky has the most tradition of anybody. Only Joe B. Hall and Tubby Smith were "Michigan Men". When it came time to hire a new coach after the failed Gillispie saga, UK went and hired the best man they could in John Calipari who had no ties to UK. Sure they wanted Billy Donovan who was an assistant here eons ago, but they chose the better man. A large segment of the UK fan base wants Travis Ford or John Pelphrey to come home and be the next head man. That's never going to happen. Those guys are not good enough to coach here. I don't care how good they were as players.

College football is a different beast and the top historical schools want to keep the tradition in house when they hire new coaches. Sometimes you have to part ways with the old coaching tree and plant new ones. Maybe that is why the Big Ten is so stuck in the past. Hopefully Urban Meyer can break the mold. Wait, what? Oh yes I forgot, he too is a "Michigan Man".....

BCS Conference Primer

College basketball is divided into four distinct segments: Non-conference, conference, conference tournament, and then a post season tournament. Every team takes part in a conference tournament except those from the Ivy League and thanks to the addition of two more post season tournaments, most teams play in all four segments of the season. The first segment has come to an end and as always it has provided us more questions than answers.

1. Who is the fairest of them all?: Syracuse, Ohio State, Kentucky, UNC have all proven their mettle. Each team has flaws that need to be ironed out in the conference season. However, these four teams play at a level that sets them apart from their peers.

2. Which conference is the "best"?: Everyone is biased towards the "BCS" leagues, but the great thing about college hoops is that the sexy league isn't always the best. The A-10, CUSA, Horizon, and even the OVC all have teams that can ball. The question is can they crack the top tier? That won't be too hard because the Pac12 is... well, I will wait.

3. Which "surprise" team will spiral out of control: The obvious example of this conundrum would be the Clemson team from a couple of seasons back that started the season undefeated before not making the NCAA tournament. Conference play can be a mysterious beast. Honestly there isn't a team in the top ten that looks like that Clemson team. However one team certainly looks like they could trip up just a little bit in conference play- Baylor. Baylor is undefeated and has some decent wins under their belt, but they haven't truly been tested. Sure they were tested by WVU and MissState but those were at neutral sites. They struggled defensively against BYU on the road and when you look at who they have to play in the Big12 on the road they could easily struggle some more. Are they a tournament team? Of course, just expect some of the luster to vanish.

With that said let's look ahead to the conference season. Here are some bold predictions for the journey ahead. Let's keep it simple: BCS leagues first...

ACC

Predicted Winner: One has to expect UNC to be the team that comes out on top in the ACC. They have been tested and have shown resilience. The UNLV game was their mulligan and had a lot of factors that led to the loss in a neutral gym that just happened to be in Las Vegas. The loss to UK was one of those "good" losses people like to talk about. Had Anthony Davis not blocked that shot, UNC is in a different boat. Luckily this isn't college football.

Dark Horse: Everyone wants to say Duke. Screw it. Duke is not that impressive. Austin Rivers is a hell of a talent, but for some reason doesn't live up to the hype. Call it my old Kentucky hatred of Duke but something about this Duke team doesn't inspire confidence. Who is my dark horse team you ask: UVA. The Cavs are off to a surprising 13-1 start under Tony Bennett and have a great win against Michigan under their belts. The win over LSU on the road may end up being a surprisingly good win later on in the season. Will it happen? Probably not. But everyone remembers Maryland right?

Big12

Prediction: Mizzou for the win. Two teams in this league are undefeated and Mizzou has that panache that makes them the flavor of the month. Out is Mike Anderson and in is Frank Haith. Haith was given a shot at making the U into a basketball school. We all know how that usually turns out, and so too did Haith. He jumped ship and headed to Mizzou and inherited a crazy talented team that has embraced the new system. Not to mention this is Mizzou's last hurrah in the Big12...

Dark Horse: This is a different Big12. Football showed us that. I'm taking Baylor. I know, I just said they are my pick to "collapse". Let me be clear. I can see this team losing games on the road in the league. However in a tournament setting, this is a dangerous team. One game scenarios are scary, and Baylor has the athletes to compete. They don't quite have that Mizzou magic though.

Big East

Prediction: The obvious pick is Syracuse. Bernie Fine drama aside, Cuse can ball. Veteran coach, a down league, great talent equals success. Undefeated run? Good lord no. It's the Big East. Tournament victory? More than likely.

Dark Horse: When UConn has its act together they can be tough to beat. When they are so-so they lose for the first time in like a century to Seton Hall. The defending national champs lost Kemba Walker but kept Jeremy Lamb. How can you not be impressed with him? Add to the mix highly talented and highly recruited super frosh Andre Drummond and sophomore Shabazz Napier and you get a potent combination of youth and "veterans".

BigTen

Prediction: Ohio State is LOADED and Thad Matta is REALLY good at what he does. The only thing that hurts them is Jared Sullinger's back. If the back is healthy- they win. If it isn't healthy, they win by less. Come March, the Buckeyes are going to be scary good.

Dark Horse: It's been a while but here it comes... Indiana. The Tom Crean experiment is starting to come to life as a Frankensteinesque beast that has a knack for defeating top teams at home. They have a good road win at NCState but that's about it. However, BigTen teams are on notice about trips to Assembly Hall. By the way, number 15 Michigan is down 11 against the Hoosiers in B-town.

Pac12

NOTE: This is the first season in a long while that this league has been absolutely putrid. No teams in this league are considered "threats". The best team in the west you ask? Probably Gonzaga or UNLV.

Prediction: Cal was DRUMMED by Mizzou and by UNLV. However this Cal Bears team might be the best of the worst out west. I hate everything about Cal which is said because I respect Coach Montgomery. You can blame your football team for my hatred.

Dark Horse: Thank goodness for the greater San Francisco area because if not for this lovely little piece of geography the Pac12 would be terrible. Stanford is my dark horse and could easily be my main prediction. This conference is too unstable. It all comes down to who doesn't suck the most. Maybe President Obama's brother in law can sneak Oregon State into the Pac12 title game.

SEC

Prediction: You know who I am going to pick and why- Kentucky. Seriously, it's the SEC.

Dark Horse: There are a few teams that can emerge and win the SEC title. Vandy is the obvious choice assuming that Festus comes back and is good to go. Outside of that one could say Mississippi State and Florida. I am too biased to right this.

Conference play is here! One more football game to go and it's all basketball all the time. With that said....

WVU scored 70 points. They really aren't a Big East team now.

A Split National Champion?

Irony is a funny thing.

Almost immediately after Oklahoma State beat Stanford in overtime last night the talking heads started throwing out the idea of a split national champion IF Alabama beats LSU. ESPN has to have lively debate and programming to fill 24 hours worth of airtime but come on, seriously? There is no way that Oklahoma State is worthy of any national championship designation under the system we have now.

You can make the argument all you want that under a playoff system they are worthy of the crown. Under a playoff system ANY team is worthy of it. Unfortunately we have the BCS and this isn't 2003. That's where the irony comes in.

The BCS was designed to pit the 2 best teams against one another for the title of best team in college football. We have all theorized that the system is flawed and so on and so forth. However we never quite had that smoking gun to blow the conspiracy sky high. Then 2003 came. The regular season came to an end and it was time to pick who goes where. USC won the Pac10 with their only loss coming against Cal in triple OT. LSU won the SEC with its only loss coming in a blowout to Florida. Oklahoma was undefeated entering the Big12 title game against lowly Kansas State. K-State surprised everyone and annihilated Oklahoma. USC and LSU finished their seasons strong while Oklahoma failed to win their conference championship. The BCS picked Oklahoma and LSU to play for it all while USC was sent to the Rose Bowl.

USC beat a very good Michigan team convincingly while LSU defeated Oklahoma. LSU won the BCS title but for the first time in the BCS era the AP gave its vote to USC. The title was split which is funny because thats what the BCS was designed to prevent.

Now return to 2011/2012. LSU is back in the mix and again is the SEC champion and this time is undefeated. Oklahoma State won the Big12 with one loss. Alabama did not win their division with one loss. Oklahoma State just beat a good Stanford team. Now you can see the connection to 2003. Take a step back though....

LSU and Alabama are the two best teams period. Their defenses are phenomenally good. Oklahoma States defense is non existent really, and has been all year. Stanford was the first elite offense they have faced all year and they put up a lot of points. But they played Baylor... No. Stanford has multiple weapons, Baylor has RGIII. Oklahoma State is a good team but they are in no way deserving of a split anything.

If Alabama beats LSU in what I think will be a close game, the Tigers deserve a share of the crown over Oklahoma State. Call me a homer, but NO league compares to the SEC.

If only we had a playoff to sort this all out...

Kentucky v Louisville....

Happy New Year!! Another year another win. Kentucky hosted the 4th ranked team in the land yesterday and again foiled the New Years Eve plans of Cardinal nation. Kentucky was led by freshman "beast" Michael Kidd Gilchrist who contributed 24 points and 19 rebounds in 39 minutes of play. Anthony Davis continued to be a block machine by adding 6 blocks to his resume. The rest of the team did what was needed to win. Did we learn anything? Yes and no. More importantly we can put this game behind us and celebrate our win.

Some takeaways...

1. Tony Greene...

Tony Greene was only one of the officials on hand yesterday but my animosity for him is almost legendary. Due to his reputation, I am clumping them all together. The officials were terrible. Fans love to say that every ref is against them. These refs were neither with us or against us. They were worried about being in the background of a SportsCenter shot looking helpless during a brawl Ala UC/Xavier. EVERYTHING was called. The game was robbed of any momentum. My fiancee fell asleep at one point. 52 fouls were committed between the teams. Both teams were cordial and honorable towards one another. This game was in NO danger of becoming another Over the Rhine brawl.

2. Russ Smith

I was crazy impressed with the Bronx native yesterday. His 30 points kept Louisville in this thing and his fiery determination was fun to watch. How he came off the bench I don't know, but knowing slick Rick's love of four year players, it will be fun to watch him grow.

3. Pitino

After the game Rick told what few reporters were around (and his post game show audience) that he would be shocked if Louisville made the tournament. This from the same guy who said he would retire in 2017 then said he never said that. Rick isn't who he used to be. He can still coach, but his comments after, well anything, are just bizarre. Louisville is a tournament team barring a collapse. Which is doubtful.

4. Jones

Terrence Jones was terrible. Terrence Jones saved us. You take your pick there. A lot of people are in the camp that Jones was a non factor with his 2 points but I take a different angle. I LOVED Jones attitude on the court. He had the right attitude in this game and was caught often on camera screaming and encouraging himself and his team. Besides, those 11 rebounds helped.

5. Blocks

Anthony Davis was his typical efficient self blocking shots yesterday. Louisville's Gorgui Dieng tied with Davis for 6 blocks too. Dieng looks like the player he is supposed to be and will only get better. Louisville's defense is GOOD. Dieng is a critical component to their success. After all, they held us to 69 points in Rupp.

What's Next?

Kentucky actually travels to Louisville to play Arkansas Little Rock in Freedom Hall on Tuesday night. Hopefully the crowd will be better than years past in the former home of the dirty birds. It will be our last tune up before starting SEC play at home against South Carolina on Saturday.

Hoosier Daddy?

Indiana did it again at Assembly Hall. The Hoosiers upset Ohio State on Saturday with stellar play by its starting 5. With that said, think god no one got hurt because the rest of the team was a non factor. Doesn't matter because right now they are a solid NCAA tournament team. Unless they pull a Clemson....

Game of the Upcoming Week

A lot of good match ups this week but one stands out- Michigan State v Wisconsin. Sparty "upset" Indiana at home while Wisconsin got upset at home. You heard that right. Wisconsin lost at the Kohl center. Both teams are looking to prove something in this slug em out Big Ten defensive show down.

It's going to be a sad week as my fiancee leaves tomorrow for a month in Africa. Here we go....